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Europe To Stop Printing 500 Euro Banknote

The European Central Bank (ECB) will discontinue printing the 500 Euro bank note due to it being widely used for illicit activities, following a Wednesday decision.

500 Euro banknotes (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)While existing 500 Euro banknotes remain legal and will retain their value, the Governing Council to the ECB has decided the banknote will not be issued as part of the new Europa banknote series, which is gradually being introduced since 2013.

As of the end of 2018, the 500 Euro banknotes will not be printed.

Europe's joint police force, Europol, welcomed the decision a day later. In a Thursday press release, Europol said that in the previous week alone, “Europol received information around a number of on-going cases where over EUR 10.4 million, almost exclusively in EUR 500 notes, have been seen to be used in criminal activities.”

According to Europol Director Rob Wainwright, the 500 Euro note accounts to more than 30% of the value of all banknotes in circulation, “yet most people have never seen one”.

“This raises questions about the the purpose for which they are being used and whether this could be linked to criminal activity,” said Wainwright.